There are few greater shames in the democratic municipal election system than acclamation, especially when widespread.

It is an unavoidable reality of small-town elections. With smaller populations, the number of people who would be willing and able to run for office is also smaller. That contributes to people getting in by acclamation, or default, as opposed to vote.This was one seat in Lac Ste. Anne County, two in Woodlands County and the entirety of council for Mayerthorpe. The problem is perhaps more consistently pronounced in school boards: Northern Gateway had five of nine seats acclaimed while Living Waters had four of six.

Acclamation is perhaps a necessary evil in small-town elections. But it is a shame to see it happen, an open besmirchment of democracy that should not be stood for in a healthy, democratic society. It may be an unavoidable reality but it should never be normalized and must be combatted.

The issue of acclamation is that it robs the public of one of its best opportunities to hold the council or councillor of the previous term to account. More than most any other time, elections force incumbents to hit the trail, talk to their constituents and subsequently answer to what they’ve done at various election forums. It is an excellent opportunity for municipalities to get feedback — something that Towns like Mayerthorpe are actively trying to get more of — and for constituents to get their voices heard.

But not so in case of acclamation. The door knocking and forums don’t happen. The municipality saves a little money but it hardly measures up to the value of the democratic process.

Some have said it somewhat represents a vote of confidence in the incumbent if nobody runs against them. There is some truth to this; fewer people will be inclined to run if they think the current councillor is doing a good enough job.

But that excuse only goes so far. There are likely plenty who may not be content with the current councillor but do not have the resources to try to oust them from the position themselves. Civic engagement and apathy too can certainly play a role where acclamation happens. If people are not engaged enough in most of what a municipality is doing — certainly an issue in Mayerthorpe, where a recent public input attention was sparsely attended — they are not going to care to run.

A lack of candidates might share some symptoms with the issue of volunteer decline. Like volunteer decline, acclamation might just be an issue of an ageing population and people civically active already stretched too thin. Without the next generation taking up the mantle from older volunteers — and council candidates — the problem could get worse.

We need to keep our communities civically engaged. Councils need to continue to innovate to engage its constituents, particularly youth. The community too needs to encourage people to run in elections, even where a council or councillor is doing a good job, so we are not robbed of an opportunity to maintain the health of our democracy.

The right to vote is too precious to lose to anything, let alone apathy.